Ferns to be named 'one of worst in the world'
The diocese of Ferns is expected to emerge today as one of the worst in the world for clerical child abuse.
Up to 30 priests based in Co Wexford are expected to be criticised in the explosive 271-page Ferns Inquiry Report, which is published this afternoon.
Minister for Children Brian Lenihan presented the dossier to the Cabinet this afternoon and the Attorney General gave legal advice on its publication.
The report is expected to disclose details of allegations made since the 1960s against 25 to 30 priests in Ferns, eight of whom are dead.
The only priests who will be named will be those convicted in the courts, those deceased and those against whom allegations are deemed proven.
Those named include Fr Sean Fortune along with Fr Donal Collins and Fr James Doyle, who were both defrocked last year.
The inquiry received evidence from over 100 complainants, who will not be identified.
“The number of priests accused of sex abuse in Ferns is believed to be among the highest uncovered, proportionally, in any Catholic diocese worldwide,” a Government source said.
The Ferns inquiry was established in March 2003 by the then Minister for Health Micheál Martin and tasked with examining the handling of complaints of child sex abuse involving Catholic priests in Ferns.
Chaired by retired Supreme Court justice Frank Murphy, its remit extended beyond clerics and included how members of the Garda Síochána and State agencies acted on complaints.
It is expected to strongly criticise senior church figures, including Brendan Comiskey, the former Bishop of Ferns who resigned in 2002 over his handling of allegations, and his predecessor, the late Dr Donal Herlihy, who served from 1963-1983.
Dr Comiskey’s successor, Bishop Eamon Walsh, will hold a press conference in St Michael’s Presbytery, Gorey, at 5pm.
Prayers were offered at Masses throughout the diocese last weekend after local priests sought guidance from the diocese as to how their congregations should be prepared for today’s expected publication.
The five Wexford TDs – John Browne, Brendan Howlin, Paul Kehoe, Liam Twomey and Tony Dempsey – along with Wexford senator Jim Walsh and MEP Avril Doyle, will be briefed by Mr Lenihan before the report is published.
